The value of exercise and physical conditioning has long been recognized, and has become increasingly important in contemporary, increasingly sedentary society. Accordingly, schools, various associations and clubs, the military services, etc. require or provide various levels of physical training, conditioning, calisthenics and/or exercise for their members.
A classic calisthenic exercise for strengthening and conditioning the upper chest and shoulders is the push-up, wherein a prone person maintains a straight and rigid back posture and line from shoulders to toes and pushes the body upward using his/her arms. The use of this exercise in varying numbers of repetitions is well known, particularly in group situations where such calisthenic exercises are performed in formation or in unison.
Generally, a single leader or instructor issues instructions to an entire group in such situations, and monitors the individuals in the group to ensure that the specific exercise called for is performed properly by each individual. This can be difficult in relatively large groups of perhaps a dozen or more individuals, perhaps ranging upward to well over a hundred individuals in military physical training involving an entire company. Even with cadre or staff providing assistance, it is likely that some individuals will perform a given calisthenic exercise incorrectly and will nevertheless remain undetected.
This is particularly true of push-ups, wherein the upper body must be lowered very close to the ground or underlying surface and then pushed away, in order for the maximum effect to be gained from the exercise. It will be apparent that it can be very difficult, to say the least, to observe a large number of persons performing such an exercise and to determine with any degree of accuracy whether or not every person is performing the exercise properly.
Accordingly, the need arises for an audible push-up detector which may be placed beneath the chest of a person performing such an exercise, which detector will emit a sound when it is compressed between the chest and the underlying surface as occurs when the push-up is performed properly. The device must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and thus to purchase, in order to provide for universal use in a large group. The device must be constructed of relatively soft and pliable materials, in order to preclude injury to a user thereof who rests his/her entire upper body weight on the device, and some height adjustment means must be provided for different individuals and the degree of difficulty desired for performing the exercise.